Just forward of the rudders, a number of hull-plates have come loose, providing easy access to the huge gear-wheels that drove the stern anchor-capstans, now buried in the silt below (3). That way, wherever you hit the seabed you will end up on the open port side of the wreck, rather than the starboard side that rests in the silt. Go on down to the seabed and start swimming with the hull on your left-hand side. Following the slope downwards, the debris ends and a more intact area of the hull continues to the seabed (2). Salvage has removed the propellers and presumably the shafts to get at the bearings. The buoy-line is attached among a jumble of debris where the hull has been blasted open just above the rudders (1). Like many other divers, I’ve done exactly that. I recommend the stern-line, because if you start amidships and go down the wrong side of the wreck, you will lose several minutes of valuable bottom-time working your way to the open side. Local dive-boats usually maintain a couple of buoys on the Kronprinz Wilhelm, one at the stern and one amidships. Even so, if you don’t want to spend that much time under water and decompressing, it can easily be split into a series of dives. The route I have chosen to describe is quite a long dive, involving a bit of a fast swim along the wreck to get the overall layout with diversions to see the main features. THE KRONPRINZ WILHELM IS AN ENORMOUS WRECK. On the cruiser wrecks of Scapa Flow it’s possible to find your way round fairly easily, but on a battleship this large and complicated it can easily take a few dives before you get the feel for it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |